Going over on fat grams but still within calorie goal

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I am consistently under my calorie goal for each day, not because I'm trying to but because I have a hard time eating that much food, but more often than not I go over the fat grams goal. My fat intake is typically "good" fats like olive oil, nuts, avocado, etc. I guess I believe a calorie is a calorie regardless of the source but does it matter where the calorie comes from? Can eating too much fats, even good ones, undermine my efforts even if I'm still ok on the total calories?
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  • nattiepeach
    nattiepeach Posts: 40 Member
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    I'd like to know too, I'm often over on fats despite being under on calories. I also think a calorie is a calorie, but would be interesting to know more.
  • reeldancer
    reeldancer Posts: 156 Member
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    I eat natural carbs, lean protein, good fats and I stay at 1200 net. When I look at my intake in a pie chart format fat is the biggest slice :0 and yet I have lost 60 :)
  • Kelly_1981
    Kelly_1981 Posts: 472 Member
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    I am intersted in this also.
  • khartley535
    khartley535 Posts: 151 Member
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    I am having a similar situation, but it isn't with the fat. I am consistantly over on my carbs and protein (and usually sodium), but always under on calories and fat.
  • fyfi_fendir
    fyfi_fendir Posts: 64 Member
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    "A calorie is a calorie"... Well it's true but not so true. Theory is calories in need to be lower than calories out. Problem is the body is tricky... because you calculate you BMR according to lifestyle, weight, height, etc... but the calculation doesn't necessarily match your body! Simply because it adapts, will slow your metabolism, and you may not really feel a great difference and before you know it it consume 200 cals less than calculation. Which is why I always set the parameter as sedentary even though I don't have a desk job.
    Secondly ratio carbs/fat/protein is another tricky factor. Each body is different. Some people gain weight easily with fat, other with carbs (rarely protein though). All you can do is test your body, see how yours responds. Try a month low in fat, higher in protein, get most of your carbs from fruits and veggies and see what happen. For me carbs is the main problem, yet I have learned that I lose best when I do low in carbs but 1 or 2 days higher in carbs (when I say carbs I mean starch actually) per week. I guess that is how I trick my body... I try not to stay on the same line. So I have some usual food, then occasionally get a day higher in calories or higher in fat or higher in starch (not over the top though!). Seem to have work for me. I think body needs to stay in constant guessing mode for us that have a lot of weight to lose.
    Another thing is good fat is better than bad fat, but fat is fat. Your body doesn't huge quantity and if you eat higher content ot fat, be sure to be over on your fiber level (since it helps breaking it down).

    Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist, it is my amble opinion only, my own experience. Each body is different and the real challenge is to understand what your own body response is. All you can do is trial
  • megsie25
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  • dkbrake
    dkbrake Posts: 4 Member
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    High amounts of saturated fat not just trans fat can promote heart disease and liver damage (Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis).

    When you are already on a restricted calorie diet, its hard to say how much is "too much". One can say, "try to be in moderation", but that is an elusive number too. My personal experience when I look at my pie chart, yes the %fat I consume tends to be a bit higher than recommended (30-35% on avg), but again if you restrict carbs than the others will go up by % naturally. I look at the total amount of saturated fat by grams and try to stay below the recommended "max" and not worry about the other fat numbers.

    I would say not too worry about it too much, as long as your saturated fat grams on your chart is "close" to recommended and you don't go over every day. Try to stick to lean proteins to keep yourself full and to lower the amount of saturated fat you consume from meat.

    khartley535: Are you eating alot of lunchmeat? I find when I use deli lunchmeat as a source of protein I tend to be over in sodium, otherwise its not too hard to control if I stay away from processed foods like breaded chicken tenders.

    Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist, but I am a research immunologist that has collaborated with pediatric nutritionists in the past. I can provide peer-reviewed journal references if requested about saturated fat and health concerns.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    High amounts of saturated fat not just trans fat can promote heart disease and liver damage (Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis).

    Siri-Tarino PW et al. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar;91(3):535-46.

    CONCLUSIONS:
    A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD.


    really for a diet there is no ceiling on any one macronutrient, the only time i would say going over in fats is bad, is if it leads to you consistently being under you minimum protein goal for the day (roughly 1g per lb of lean body mass). you will still lose weight if you are in a caloric deficit
  • fyfi_fendir
    fyfi_fendir Posts: 64 Member
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    High amounts of saturated fat not just trans fat can promote heart disease and liver damage (Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis).

    When you are already on a restricted calorie diet, its hard to say how much is "too much". One can say, "try to be in moderation", but that is an elusive number too. My personal experience when I look at my pie chart, yes the %fat I consume tends to be a bit higher than recommended (30-35% on avg), but again if you restrict carbs than the others will go up by % naturally. I look at the total amount of saturated fat by grams and try to stay below the recommended "max" and not worry about the other fat numbers.

    I agree with dkbrake saturated fat are not good for you. My weekly intake tend to be 40grams under recommended value. Would be nice if they could add the chart and graphs also on the website. I love the feature in the apps version (on my ipod). Because Having a weekly average helps more than daily.
  • keola64
    keola64 Posts: 207 Member
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    High amounts of saturated fat not just trans fat can promote heart disease and liver damage (Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis).

    Siri-Tarino PW et al. Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar;91(3):535-46.

    CONCLUSIONS:
    A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD.


    really for a diet there is no ceiling on any one macronutrient, the only time i would say going over in fats is bad, is if it leads to you consistently being under you minimum protein goal for the day (roughly 1g per lb of lean body mass). you will still lose weight if you are in a caloric deficit
    I agree with acg67 ,your total fats should not be exceeded,the type of fats that you want to mainly compose that limit are poly&mono unsaturated fats as they are your good fats needed in your daily values,omega 3's ect ,there are few things going over is great protein,&fiber for instance ,other than that staying under your calories but going over your fats is a terrible idea ,& not good on your body if on a low calorie diet due to the comment effect of loss of muscle mass with fat when losing weight,that said keep fats low,carbs,moderate,sugar low,& high protein to help prevent muscle breakdown,and fiber to help with digestion
  • Schwiggity
    Schwiggity Posts: 1,449 Member
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    Whether or not we can agree on Saturated fats having any effect on heart disease, I'm sure we can agree that Monounsaturated fats are very healthy. If you're eating healthy fats and that's how you're going over, I wouldn't worry about it.
  • dkbrake
    dkbrake Posts: 4 Member
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    Unsaturated fats are healthy, in moderation. Saturated fats are healthy, in moderation. The body needs these to have healthy brain, muscle, immunity and insulin control.

    Again the simpliest answer is "moderation", eating a wide variety of natural unprocessed foods, with caloric restriction and exersize, as best as we can in our individual unique lives. The myfitnesspal guidelines are not some "1 size fits all rule in stone". They are a guideline to finding moderation. If you say, "I eat alot of nuts" you probably have already have answered your own question about balance and moderation. :wink:


    A follow up to what can happen when we fail to find balance:

    Your immune cells love saturated fat. They scavenge it like candy. When some of these immune cells get so "full" of saturated fat they get sick, start behaving abnormally, and start putting out danger signals (inflammation). They also start messing with our insulin resistance. Sometimes they can even get hung up on the walls of the heart and circulation and become foam cells that may contribute to things like hypertension and closing of arterial walls. Scientists have become pretty good at tracking down the exact genes that do this kind of stuff, but still are so far away from giving the average person some sort of easy, simple explaination that they can take with them to their supermarket.

    When you look at big groups of humans, over a long period of time, its so hard to pick out one signle factor and say for certain, yes, this one macronutrient causes X or Y, because its almost impossible to control for how different our genes, our lifestyles and our environment is. Heart disease especially is a very complicated animal with likely hundreds of contibuting factors and 100 people for each who is the exception to the rule.

    But when you look at fundamental molecular studies in a well controled environment, it becomes pretty clear that yes, saturated fats (and even some unsaturated ones) do bad mojo to our bodies, as does too much sugar, etc. Without getting into an unpleasant publication posting war, suffice it to say, there are alot of reasons to have concern over our sat fat intake, though it is not neatly black and white (Good vs bad) as we have been told for 40+ years.
  • NVintage
    NVintage Posts: 1,463 Member
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    I'm looking at newer research about this... Is it healthy to have a very high percentage of the diet be "healthy" fats like olive oil, nuts, avocado, etc. or would too much of even those fats cause problems in some people?
  • SnifterPug
    SnifterPug Posts: 746 Member
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    NVintage wrote: »
    I'm looking at newer research about this... Is it healthy to have a very high percentage of the diet be "healthy" fats like olive oil, nuts, avocado, etc. or would too much of even those fats cause problems in some people?

    Was initially going to point out this is a really old thread, but you have noticed this and anyway the subject is still interesting to discuss.

    For myself, a higher proportion of fats results in much better satiety and thus works well for weight control. I can't speak for anyone else, but my cholesterol levels are the best my doctor says she has ever seen in anyone, never mind someone my age.

    I am sure that "too much" of anything will cause problems, but would question what "too much" looks like.

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,658 Member
    edited April 2021
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    Current WHO (summer 2020) recommendations would place saturated fat limits to 10% and trans fats to 1%.

    The no more than 30% of calories overall intake from lipids is based mostly on avoiding weight gain, so could probably be ignored in the context of counting calories.

    https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet
  • NVintage
    NVintage Posts: 1,463 Member
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    Thanks:)That's good to hear! What would too much be? I think to most dieticians, it's over 30%??? I was going to start a new thread, but found this while searching and it seems the comments on here are still relevant. I'm looking at research from the University of Minnesota and some others that suggest that there's no reason to limit "good" fats as long as you eat a Mediterranean diet. (generally more like 40%fat?)The traditional lifestyle of those regions are so different than most in the U.S., though, with more activity and less stress. So I'm wondering if the high fat percentage would still be okay in sedentary, stressed out people. ?:)
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    NVintage wrote: »
    I'm looking at newer research about this... Is it healthy to have a very high percentage of the diet be "healthy" fats like olive oil, nuts, avocado, etc. or would too much of even those fats cause problems in some people?

    Was initially going to point out this is a really old thread, but you have noticed this and anyway the subject is still interesting to discuss.

    For myself, a higher proportion of fats results in much better satiety and thus works well for weight control. I can't speak for anyone else, but my cholesterol levels are the best my doctor says she has ever seen in anyone, never mind someone my age.

    I am sure that "too much" of anything will cause problems, but would question what "too much" looks like.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,202 Member
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    OK, so I'm going to be the curmudgeon and suggest that one is eating "too much fat" if in order to eat (however much fat) and stay within calorie goal, one is consistently eating too little of something else important, like protein, fiber, veggie/fruit servings. (No, taking vitamins/supplements is not a general replacement for veggies/fruits.)

    /curmudgeon
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    NVintage wrote: »
    Thanks:)That's good to hear! What would too much be? I think to most dieticians, it's over 30%??? I was going to start a new thread, but found this while searching and it seems the comments on here are still relevant. I'm looking at research from the University of Minnesota and some others that suggest that there's no reason to limit "good" fats as long as you eat a Mediterranean diet. (generally more like 40%fat?)The traditional lifestyle of those regions are so different than most in the U.S., though, with more activity and less stress. So I'm wondering if the high fat percentage would still be okay in sedentary, stressed out people. ?:)
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    NVintage wrote: »
    I'm looking at newer research about this... Is it healthy to have a very high percentage of the diet be "healthy" fats like olive oil, nuts, avocado, etc. or would too much of even those fats cause problems in some people?

    Was initially going to point out this is a really old thread, but you have noticed this and anyway the subject is still interesting to discuss.

    For myself, a higher proportion of fats results in much better satiety and thus works well for weight control. I can't speak for anyone else, but my cholesterol levels are the best my doctor says she has ever seen in anyone, never mind someone my age.

    I am sure that "too much" of anything will cause problems, but would question what "too much" looks like.

    There are some traditional diets where people got 30% or more of their calories from fat and it doesn't seem to be "too much." I'm skeptical that one HAS to follow a Mediterranean-style diet, as it seems like a lot of the factors associated with good health in the Mediterranean region can be adopted by anyone.

    People everywhere have stressors. I think if we're assuming that health is something that can only be accomplished in some mythical bucolic low stress situation, it's both keeping us from seeing the stuff that we can do to control our own outcomes and is kind of patronizing to people in those regions. The stuff we stress about -- family issues, workplace issues, general worries about the future of the world, economic concerns, etc -- those things impact people everywhere. Am I more stressed than someone in the Mediterranean region in the mid-20th century (when many of the data about the "Mediterranean diet" was collected)? I doubt it. The specifics of our life may look different in some ways, but stress about money and family and love and all that is stress. In some ways, you could argue that many of those people dealt with a stress I've never had to encounter, in that many of them lived directly through the tumult and trauma of WWII.
  • NVintage
    NVintage Posts: 1,463 Member
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    I don't think it's curmudgeonlike, haha...Most the diets I've looked at are pretty low in protein. I just read a study that showed higher mortality rates in people eating less than 40%carbs AND over 70% carbs, so I think what you're saying is true. Surprising to me, is that it says the traditional Greek diet was generally around 40% carbs, 40% fats, and 20% protein...a lot less carbs than I would have thought.

    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    OK, so I'm going to be the curmudgeon and suggest that one is eating "too much fat" if in order to eat (however much fat) and stay within calorie goal, one is consistently eating too little of something else important, like protein, fiber, veggie/fruit servings. (No, taking vitamins/supplements is not a general replacement for veggies/fruits.)

    /curmudgeon

  • NVintage
    NVintage Posts: 1,463 Member
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    I do remember reading somewhere about the beneficial health impacts of rationing during WW2 in the U.S and England... I bet they did eat less protein during that time. I wonder about the percentage fat...

    NVintage wrote: »
    Thanks:)That's good to hear! What would too much be? I think to most dieticians, it's over 30%??? I was going to start a new thread, but found this while searching and it seems the comments on here are still relevant. I'm looking at research from the University of Minnesota and some others that suggest that there's no reason to limit "good" fats as long as you eat a Mediterranean diet. (generally more like 40%fat?)The traditional lifestyle of those regions are so different than most in the U.S., though, with more activity and less stress. So I'm wondering if the high fat percentage would still be okay in sedentary, stressed out people. ?:)
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    NVintage wrote: »
    I'm looking at newer research about this... Is it healthy to have a very high percentage of the diet be "healthy" fats like olive oil, nuts, avocado, etc. or would too much of even those fats cause problems in some people?

    Was initially going to point out this is a really old thread, but you have noticed this and anyway the subject is still interesting to discuss.

    For myself, a higher proportion of fats results in much better satiety and thus works well for weight control. I can't speak for anyone else, but my cholesterol levels are the best my doctor says she has ever seen in anyone, never mind someone my age.

    I am sure that "too much" of anything will cause problems, but would question what "too much" looks like.

    There are some traditional diets where people got 30% or more of their calories from fat and it doesn't seem to be "too much." I'm skeptical that one HAS to follow a Mediterranean-style diet, as it seems like a lot of the factors associated with good health in the Mediterranean region can be adopted by anyone.

    People everywhere have stressors. I think if we're assuming that health is something that can only be accomplished in some mythical bucolic low stress situation, it's both keeping us from seeing the stuff that we can do to control our own outcomes and is kind of patronizing to people in those regions. The stuff we stress about -- family issues, workplace issues, general worries about the future of the world, economic concerns, etc -- those things impact people everywhere. Am I more stressed than someone in the Mediterranean region in the mid-20th century (when many of the data about the "Mediterranean diet" was collected)? I doubt it. The specifics of our life may look different in some ways, but stress about money and family and love and all that is stress. In some ways, you could argue that many of those people dealt with a stress I've never had to encounter, in that many of them lived directly through the tumult and trauma of WWII.